The boundless Dark Void.
Lu Yang stood with his hands behind his back. Without a word, he directly activated this life's [Supreme Dao Transformation]. The Light of Wisdom erupted, making him sharp and clear-minded once more.
Then, he clapped his hands together as if cradling a supreme treasure, holding the [Heavenly Destiny Reckoning] in his palms. He stepped forward slowly and placed it into the Dark Void, as if burying a seed in the soil. Soon, a faint Light of Order blossomed in the void like a sprout piercing the earth.
"BOOM!"
In an instant, Lu Yang felt a violent surge of dizziness, as if he had been flung beyond the nine heavens—reaching neither the sky above nor the ground below.
The thoughts of his Primordial Spirit felt as if they were intoxicated, swaying unsteadily.
He had experienced this sensation once before.
'Lost...'
The Light Sea is a cage, but it is also a protection. When a Great Dao is rooted in the Light Sea, the cultivators following that path can largely avoid getting lost in the Dark Void.
When you proactively break free from the cage, you also place yourself outside that protection. With the Great Dao rooted in the Dark Void, the risk of a practitioner becoming lost increases drastically. This was only the first step, and the process hadn't even fully unfolded, yet Lu Yang's Primordial Spirit cultivation was already wavering.
"Whew—"
Lu Yang breathed deeply, simultaneously driving his Primordial Spirit. The brilliant firelight illuminated the Dark Void, while the Light of Order from [Heavenly Destiny Reckoning] rapidly permeated the surroundings.
Wherever it passed, Chaos returned to Order.
The familiar digitized perspective resurfaced, helping Lu Yang better analyze the Dark Void. Overlapping with his Primordial Spirit, he finally withstood the instability brought by the state of being lost.
"...Continue!"
Lu Yang stepped forward, stomping heavily upon the Dark Void. Beneath his feet, the Light of Order transformed from [Heavenly Destiny Reckoning] rapidly spread out.
In the darkness, a single sliver of light appeared.
Lu Yang did not stop his pace. The state of [Supreme Dao Transformation] brought a moment of enlightenment: 'This is... my opportunity. An opportunity for my essence to undergo a critical metamorphosis!'
In this life, Sisui has not yet escaped, nor has he achieved transcendence. Strictly speaking, only the Primordial Saint alone has completed the metamorphosis of a Dao Lord's essence through the [True Nascent Soul]. The Sword Lord, Cang Hao, and the others are merely standing upon the [Paramita]; their essence is fundamentally still the Golden Core perfection.
The greatest difference lies in immortality.
The more successful the metamorphosis of the essence, the stronger the immortality. If the essence has not transformed, the Dao Lord can still fall if the [Paramita] collapses.
Based on the comparison from the previous life:
Among the metamorphoses of essence, Sisui's [False Transcendence] was undoubtedly of the highest grade, nearly flawless; even the Final Tribulation of the Light Sea could only wound him but not kill him.
The Primordial Saint's [True Nascent Soul] was considered middle-grade.
In most cases, his immortality was quite robust, but that "umbilical cord" connecting him to the Dark Void was the greatest flaw in his system.
'Then... what about me?'
Lu Yang possessed self-awareness, and under [Supreme Dao Transformation], he gained some insight: 'The metamorphosis of essence I am about to undergo can probably only be considered low-grade.'
That said, Lu Yang didn't care much.
Low-grade is fine.
Since he could restart, he would first experience what a metamorphosis of essence felt like. There would naturally be ways to improve it later; his Dao was never intended to be set in stone.
At this moment, in the Light Sea.
Among the countless world realms, a significant number of mortals and cultivators looked up, gazing at the sky. They keenly noticed a streak of light appearing in the heavens.
"What is... that?"
"A Dao Fruit star?"
"Doesn't look like it. Compared to the light of the Dao Fruit stars, it's much dimmer. I almost didn't notice it. Rather than a star, it's more like a meteor."
"Strange..."
Such an anomaly was extremely faint at the level of mortals, Qi Refining, and even Foundation Establishment. Most people simply felt they had seen a curiosity.
Only a Perfected Lord could discern the oddity.
"Is that a Great Dao?"
"A wonder I've never seen before. Yet so little of its light reaches the physical world. It doesn't seem to be weak itself; rather, it feels like it stands too high and too far away."
"Could it be a hidden Supreme Dao Fruit?"
The Perfected Lords speculated much, but that was the extent of it. Perhaps some felt the urge to investigate, but they could not reach it, and ultimately all chose to give up.
Only the [Paramita].
In a place of infinite height, unknown to mortals and invisible to cultivators, the Dao Lords upon the [Paramita] were plunged into an unspeakable shock.
"That is a Great Dao!"
"A Great Dao rooted in the Dark Void, outside the Light Sea... Can such a place even birthed a Great Dao? Or has someone deliberately established a path there?"
"Establishing a path? You must be joking!"
"Do you want to go take a look? That depth of the Dark Void is too far from the Light Sea. Combined with the tremors of a Great Dao's wonder within the void, it's very easy to get lost."
"Du Xuan, don't even bother looking."
"But then again, across such a depth of the Dark Void, it can still shine down a ray of profound light and pierce the Light Sea. Just how strong is this Great Dao?"
For a time, manifold thoughts clashed upon the [Paramita]. Even the tiny figure situated at the apex seemed to be roused. He turned back to glance at the source of the faint light, but since it was the Dark Void, his vision could not clearly see too far without the support of the [Paramita].
And being far away in the Dark Void, it couldn't be a [Variable].
In that case, there was no need to pay it any mind.
With that thought, the tiny figure withdrew his gaze and resumed his deep meditation. His aura was steady and calm; it seemed nothing could shock or move him.
'Is the Ancestral Dragon... still in the Netherworld?'
'In ten more years, I'll have to send it to the [Supreme Grandmaster] again to maintain the ritual of the [Heaven-Seizing Name Method]. I must make preparations in advance.'
At that time, he would let it take a look at the [Heavenly Destiny Divine Record] while he was at it.
That said, after hundreds of thousands of years, the Primordial Saint had long since given up and no longer expected that scrapped book to provide any important intelligence.
After all, the prerequisite for that object providing intelligence was that he had already died.
But he was not as he was back then.
Currently, he was the foremost Dao Lord, dominating the Light Sea for over a hundred thousand years. He moved the pieces and manipulated all living beings; his three sets of plans were interlinked and flawless.
Who can kill me? Who dares kill me?
At this moment, the Primordial Saint was still full of confidence.
Meanwhile, deep in the Dark Void.
Lu Yang stopped his pace and lightly rubbed his brow, feeling a wave of exhaustion. The originally vigorous fire of his Primordial Spirit was like a candle in the wind, liable to be extinguished at any moment.
Yet [Heavenly Destiny Reckoning] had not reached its end.
The Light of Order remained strong, seemingly urging him to continue forward, pushing his stature and spiritual power to climb incessantly as if there were no end.
'I am now... a restored Dao Lord.'
The foundation of [Heavenly Destiny Reckoning] was right here. It didn't need a Dao-attaining land; as long as one cultivated according to the Great Dao, one would naturally reach the Dao Lord stature!
This was something even the Primordial Saint and Sisui could not achieve. Although their realms were both higher than Lu Yang's, the starting point of their cultivation was ultimately the Light Sea. No matter how strong [Inevitable Fate] was, or how powerful their Dharma Body, Yin and Yang, and Dao Heart were, they were still restricted by the Light Sea. They could not become a True Dao Lord solely based on a Great Dao.
Yet Lu Yang had achieved it.
But the question was, when would this path reach its end?
Lu Yang's brow furrowed tightly. He felt as if the heavens were shaking and the earth was moving; the risk of getting lost was growing ever larger. The elevation of spiritual power and stature could not hide the weakness of his Primordial Spirit.
If this continued, no matter how strong he became, it would be useless.
A Great Dao within the Light Sea reaches its end once it hits the Golden Core perfection—the limit the Light Sea can accommodate. However, the Dark Void has no such thing as a "limit."
Yet a Great Dao has a beginning but no end. Since he had not achieved transcendence, getting lost was nearly inevitable!
'How can this be...'
A dead end? Impossible!
In this moment, the Light of Wisdom brought by [Supreme Dao Transformation] nearly burned in Lu Yang's eyes. His thoughts whirled at high speed, deducing how to break through the current situation.
I ask, where is the road?